Racing Heart, Flushed Face and Sweaty Palms
by holmesfreak1412
Summary: He admits it. He is in love. With Yaoyorozu Momo.


**Racing Hearts, Flushed Face and Sweaty Palms**

It wasn't that Bakugo is emotionally inept. He is just not used to it, not being able to scream his heart out that is. He screams when he is happy. He screams when he is angry. He screams when he is sad. He even screams when he is brushing his fucking teeth (those damned bacterias) for God's sake. So imagine the dilemma when suddenly he finds himself tongue-tied, face flushed, heart racing when a certain girl walks by.

At first, he seriously contemplated that he must have caught something. Deku has been sneezing the whole week and there is no better man than fucking Deku who can spread weakness like he does with sentimental crap. Kirishima looks incredulously appalled when Bakugo complains about it one day.

"You look perfectly healthy to me." Weird hair points out cheekily, in a tone that reminds him of that one time in USJ when the guy had the nerve to say that he, Bakugo Katsuki of all people, cares about their classmates. "Maybe you caught the love bug or something."

"What the fuck even is that shit?"

"Look, Bakugo." The redhead then puts an arm around his shoulders, grinning brightly. "Our bodies are undergoing a lot of changes right now and there comes a time when we appreciate the opposite sex. Yaomomo—"

He trails off because Yaoyorozu Momo chooses that exact time to walk by, dogged by her ever chatty friends. Poised and elegant, Yaomomo steals air like an art form and Kirishima could not blame Bakugo for his racing heart, red face and sweaty palms. All symptoms of a hormonal teenager salivating for some booty. He knows one when he sees one.

"You're in love." Kirishima amusedly notes once Yaoyorozu and company has walked past and he is onto a treat as Bakugo's eyes literally bugged out of its sockets, screams about how Kirishima was probably dropped as a baby and proceeds dangerously to the territories of what is uniquely a Bakugo-panic-attack.

"I AM NOT." Each exclaimed word is punctuated by explosions on hardened skin. People in the hall flinch, look at the source and go on to their lives again as usual. Bakugo and Kirishima. Normalcy.

When the hand-bombs die down, Kirishima shrugs off telltale dusk against his hardened skin. He shrugs. "Hey, being in love is not so bad. Could be worse. Here." He hands Bakugo his phone.

Bakugo frowns. Some American superhero with a shield blares on the screen. "What the fuck am I supposed to be looking at?"

Kirishima scrolls up through dozens of memes until he comes across the message bubble he is looking for. "The girls' chatroom sans Yaomomo. Mina added me and the other guys for kicks. There is a running bet about who would get Yaomomo at the end of the year. She is after all , quite popular you know. You should see how the other boys scream her name during the cultural festival. You would think she is the school idol or something."

Kirishima could not help it but the look on Bakugo's face, for once voiceless and at a loss, is more priceless than a Crimson Riot autograph. Epic. He prattles on. "My money is actually on Todoroki. You know that they have always been close. Seatmates and partners and all that. Mina thinks they will have the cutest babies. A lot of people think so too."

Bakugo's expression of indignant protest and muted horror makes it apparent that Kirishima has sold it.

You got to hit it where it hurts.

While what or who exactly Bakugo loves is debatable and almost a scary topic to delve into, there is one thing that Kirishima is certain that the wannabe Explosion Hero hates more than anything.

He hates losing.

Especially not to Todoroki Shouto.

"Kirishima! Tell me more about this winning-over-a-girl thingy!"

Sold it!

…..

"Bakugo is in love."

Sero chokes. Mina voices a particularly long eeeeeeh. Something like drool is dripping off the stunned Kaminari's lips. And Kirishima chuckles because this is so much fun and he cannot wait to involve his friends in it. The more the merrier. More entries, more chances of winning.

"Who is the poor girl?" Mina finally says after the trio recovers from various states of denial and disbelief. Dramatically, she puts pink hands before her mouth. "Oh no! it can't be Ochako-chan, can't it? The poor girl!"

"No." Though he agrees that it was not a bad guess. All things considered, Kirishima always thought Uraraka Ochako was the only girl in class whose name Bakugo remembers _._

Apparently not.

But until proven, Kirishima is inclined to be convinced that Bakugo is probably unaware of Hagakure's existence.

But such things are ultimately irrelevant because Uraraka is with Midoriya now and maybe Bakugo's sheer disgust about the most lovey-dovey couple in UA is probably what it looks like, disgust.

It certainly did not cross Kirishima's mind that Bakugo might be gay for Midoriya. No, definitely not. Unrequited love makes even the best people bitter after all, he sighs forlornly.

No, definitely not.

"No." He shakes his head then breathes out, a perfect note of suspense. The dramatic effect achieves a most satisfactory result. Mina is at the edge of her seat now. "It's Yaomomo."

If a needle fell on the floor, it would have been deafening. The shocked silence is like no other.

"Oh no!" Mina finally says, like the revelations is the most tragic thing since Titanic. "She actually thinks he hates her!"

…..

Far from hatred, Bakugo _adores_ Yaoyorozu Momo. He did not know it then. Always thought that she is tolerable than most (which, honestly does not say much considering that his experience with girls in his class range from annoying to downright insufferable). But now that he sees her face everywhere, Bakugo Katsuki is forced to confront his predicament. There must be a reason for his reluctance to offend her, the fact that he just cannot muster an insult around her.

Bakugo likes Yaoyorozu Momo.

Okay. That is but an understatement. Kirishima would have taken it into himself to correct him. And if there is anything that Bakugo hates, it is being wrong.

No.

He admits it. He is in love.

With Yaoyorozu Momo.

His face reddens involuntarily again as he tastes the name on his lips. Why her? Why her, of all people?

Love is for the weak. He had enough looking at the sentimental crap Deku and Round face had going on, thank you very much. Had it been anyone else, he would have just scared them off enough to coerce them into transferring into another school and not see them again. Zilch. Nada. No distractions. And he could only live in peace (or as close to peace as possible with Deku and his girl sucking faces round the corner).

But unfortunately (or perhaps, fortunately) for Bakugo, Yaoyorozu Momo is one of the few who does even bat an eye at his worst of tempers, fearlessly admonishes him to put him in his place and is just one of the most beautiful persons he has ever seen in his entire life, he does not even have a heart to go full ballistic on her.

If the rest of her weren't so perfect, Bakugo would have actually been vocal about respecting her.

At the same time, come to think of it, if he will be fraternizing himself with any girl, it may be as well be the one who is not scared of him. She will be wasted on Todoroki anyway, half-and-half bastard. Only the number-one hero in class deserves the number-one heroine after all.

He is not aware that he has been staring at her for so long, uninterrupted for once that when she finally breaks eye contact (she is staring at him too!), he is washed over all at once by the sensations he suddenly forgot. Racing heart, flushed face, sweaty palms all worsened as Yaoyorozu Momo's face pinch as though pained.

"Why are you glaring at Yaoyorozu-san, like that, Kacchan?"

Annoyed, Bakugo quickly looks up. Deku saunters over, wary expression on his face. He is not with his girlfriend for once but his uniform is ruffled than it normally is. There is a healthy blush on his freckled face. Bakugo would have scoffed if only he is not thinking if whether or not he would look like that if Yaoyorozu…

Banishing the treacherous, sappy thought, he snaps. "What is it to you Deku? Huh?"

Face glowing into a more alarming shade of crimson, Deku shrinks to himself. "Right. None of my business. Just the usual you, I guess. Sorry I asked." Then he goes off back to the direction he came from.

At another time, Bakugo would have been sorely irritated at Deku acting like a fucking doormat when he can punch villains into oblivion whenever he gets serious but at the moment, Bakugo has more pressing matters at hand. He catches up to Deku in the hallway and calls: "Wait!"

Glancing over his shoulder, Midoriya Izuku's face depicts the confusion he feels as his frenemy clenches his fist, looking for once, like he is pondering about something. Bakugo has always been a man of instinct, he would narrate later, when interviewed by his other classmates. It is rare to see him so conflicted. "Yes?"

"How did you do it?"

Deku frowns dumbly. "Did what?"

Bakugo grits his teeth. "How did you get Roundface to go out with you?"

The only sound between the two of them is Deku's sharp intake of breath. "Excuse me?" Deku must have thought he has misheard. Dumbass.

"You heard me." Bakugo snaps.

"Uhhhh." Deku scratches the back of his neck. He always did that when he is nervous. "I guess. I just asked her if she would like to. We are friends. So I guess it came naturally. Why do you ask, Kacchan?"

To Bakugo's eternal embarrassment, he does not find it in him to restrain his blush. "Just wondering. What? I can't wonder?"

"Oh." Then it clicks. Deku is by no means a dumbass, much as Bakugo would have preferred him to be. "Oh dear, Kacchan. Who is the poor girl?"

"SHUT IT. YOU DUMBASS! YOU'LL RUIN IT!"

"What?"

"My reputation! Leave it!" He could have sworn that Deku rolled his eyes. The nerve!

"Look, Kacchan." To Bakugo's horror, Deku sounds like his mom when she is trying to calm him down as a toddler. "I don't really care about who it is. I am curious but I understand if you don't want to tell. It's your secret. Uhhh…" The pause is awkward. Deku slowly and tentatively puts a hand on Bakugo's shoulder and he looks very surprised that Bakugo does not shrug it off. "Look, just treat her like this. If you are already friends, talk about it. Be frank. That is how I did it with Ura- Ochako-chan. Took me only about a year or so."

Bakugo would have grunted condescendingly had he not needed this advice so badly.

Deku does not even notice. "If you are not friends yet, then well, start now. Treat her like you would treat your best of friends. It is an even slower process but I think it works. I am no expert, you see."

But I am better off than you, Deku does not say but Bakugo hears it in his mind.

"Tch." Bakugo does not thank him but Deku bids him good luck anyway.

….

He would kill Deku for this. It was one thing to lower himself enough that he would do what Deku suggested. It was entirely another when the fucking advice did not even work.

He tried glaring. He tried criticizing. He tried everything in the book of How-To-Be-Good-Friends-With-Bakugo against his will. Everything that worked with Kirishima does not seem to work with Yaoyorozu. He would try screaming his head off when she is within screeching range, except that he loses control of his vocal chords every time she is near. He doubts he can even grunt.

When all else failed, he tried telling her to go away and she actually goes away which beats the point of finding her around UA, just to tell her to go away.

She even had the temerity to look hurt!

Not one of Deku's so-called seduction techniques is working and Bakugo is at a loss about what to do. When he tells Kirishima about it, the fucking redhead had the gall to laugh his ass off as he furiously typed something on his stupid phone.

"What the fuck are you doing?"

"I am telling the guys about it?"

"YOU ARE DOING WHAT?"

….

When he comes to class the next day, he is made more and more aware that people are staring at him more than usual. The boys would pat him on the back. The girls giggle around him. Kirishima is a fucking gossip. If only he knew, he would have chosen to blast him off the fucking sky rather than tell him of his woes.

Damn.

That's sappy.

Things are weird that day. Left and right, he received advice when he does not even ask for them. Even the mute guy in his class who only talks to animals suddenly has a voice on the matter as he tells Bakugo to just rub her belly or something. Sugar guy sends him links about cake recipes. He even gets the surprise of his life when floating gloves seem to have something to say about his love life. Deku himself seems to have figured it all out and offers to lend him his little Wikipedia page about Yaoyorozu. Creepy bastard.

The list goes on day by day.

And then Deku says another dumb thing.

"Why not just confess?"

Who the hell does that?

The Earphone girl is by far the worse though.

She corners him after class one day, hands on her hips, lips pursed into a thin line but looking no more threatening than an electric post. But she asks a question that drives any retort back down to his throat.

"What is it to you?" Pondering over the reasons why he likes Yaoyorozu Momo is a headache for its sheer number but he is unwilling to admit that yet. "You gay for her or some shit?"

The girl is unimpressed, offended even. She narrows her eyes and Bakugo feels discomfort in her gaze like he never felt with anyone before.

"Because Momo can do better." Earphones then says seriously, not at all miffed. She crosses her arms. She still does not look as intimidating as she clearly tries to be but Bakugo listens anyway. "I've listened to so many boys confessing their feelings to her, I can practically speak hormonal teenager."

Feeling like it must be some kind of underhanded insult, he vehemently raises his chin. "If you are implying…"

"Oh you know, what I am implying, Bakugo." Her tone is rising now and Bakugo is forcefully reminded that the girl's quirk deals with sound and its effect to people. She times her next words well enough to sound like a threat. "If you ever—"

He ignores her promises of murders (which are getting more creative as he remains nonplussed), rolls his eyes at her at every opportunity and swears to her that he would name his and Momo's firstborn after a singer she hates if she continues being so pissy about it.

And if she does not stop saying she thought he was gay all this fucking time.

…..

Yaoyorozu wonders what she could have done to deserve this.

"I mean, I don't know what the deal is." She complains, oblivious of the whole class practically buzzing her name and Bakugo's together in their own verbal fanfiction. Todoroki Shouto remains somber as he quietly munches his sandwich. They must have talked about this a million times but it is getting worse. Bakugo glares. The girls giggle. The boys look at her as though they are expecting something to happen anytime soon. Mineta has become more persistent.

And now, Kyouka insists on escorting her everywhere she goes.

It drives her nuts.

"She even said that the two of us should just get together, Todoroki-kun." The exasperation is apparent in her tone. "I mean, where did that even come from?"

Todoroki shrugs. "I don't know. You tell me."

Momo clicks her tongue. "And that Bakugo too. I mean, what have I done to him to deserve that? He glares at me all the time like I did something wrong!"

Todoroki's lip curl in thought. Could Yaoyorozu be any denser? The ocean floor would look cute next to her.

Later that day as they walk home together, Todoroki pauses by a playground, watching a group of children run around the slides. Yaoyorozu stops mid-stride and glances back, eyebrows cocked.

Prompted, Shouto drawls. "Remember when you were a kid and a boy would tug your hair?"

Momo nods, probably reminiscing her days in a private school. Frilly dresses and stupid pigtails. "Mum used to say that when they do that, that means they like you." She rolls her eyes. "What do you say, Todoroki-kun, is that even true?"

"Hn." Todoroki merely grunts and an idea begins to form in his mind.

….

Funnily enough, great advice actually comes in the form of who he thought is his rival walking up to him one day as he stares at Yaoyorozu from afar.

"Grab her hair."

Bakugo is, sufficed to say, confused by the latest advice. "What the heck is that, Todoroki?"

Half and half bastard smiles enigmatically. "She'll know then. It will work, promise."

Then he understands. And it all clicks into one place. "Why are you telling me this?"

"Yaoyorozu is my friend. The least I can do is to make sure the man who will get her actually knows how to make her happy."

It was a sunny day when Bakugo tugs her hair off its clip and it falls down gracefully, framing her face. Bakugo is transfixed at the dawn of realization in her face as she mutters an: "Oh!"

He does not tell her hair is beautiful. He does not tell her she is beautiful.

He tells her to go away.

Yaoyorozu's brilliant smile as she stays will surely be the death of him.

 **(END)**

 **I was writing an angsty sequel to Speechless when this came up. Totally random.**


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